


Heart on His Sleeve

by spacefucker



Series: Tumblr Prompts [9]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M, a part of 'Fake Friday', just fun, steve is an open book, the one where nothing bad happens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-22
Updated: 2016-10-22
Packaged: 2018-08-23 21:28:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8343502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacefucker/pseuds/spacefucker
Summary: Steve has it bad for Tony and this whole fake-relationship thing is harder than he thought. Tony surprises him as always.





	

There were a lot of things that Steve Rogers was but one of them wasn’t good at poker.

Meaning that he didn’t have a good poker face.

Natasha calls them ‘micro expressions’ and assures him that most people have a hard time parsing them anyway but it doesn’t exactly make him feel any better. Especially when she waggles her eyebrows and says that she’s sure Tony isn’t good at reading faces either. Steve can’t blame himself too terribly much that she’s figured out that he’s got it bad for Tony. What gets to him, though, is finding out that the rest of the team, save Tony, knows as well.

It’s hard for Steve to lie, really. He’s still a good, church-going boy and wears his heart on his sleeve. The real blessing here is that Tony is about as oblivious as the sky is blue and is too occupied being a genius half the time and a pain in Steve’s ass the other half. Tony was hard to keep focused, anyhow. His brain was frequently going too many places at once to be tied down for long. He has a good energy, that way. There’s never a dull moment.

Steve guesses that may be one of the big things about Tony that he fell in love with. He was never bored around him and was always surprised to hear what was going on in that big brain of his. Steve liked to hear Tony go on and like to watch him work. It is poetry and chaos in motion.

So here they were, at one of Tony’s many functions – one that Tony actually wanted to go to – and Steve’s stuck playing loving-boyfriend with Tony. An easy role, if there ever was one, it’s not hard to love Tony. Steve’s already there. What’s hard is watching Tony move around the room from group to group, doing his best to smile stiffly as people of every shape and size make their own passes at him like Steve isn’t standing there at the bar with a decent view and well-within hearing range.

Fake or not that’s his boyfriend and he expected people to treat that with some respect. To make a point, Steve calls over Tony and gives him a peck on the cheek while handing him another drink and settles his hand on the small of Tony’s back. Tony seems a little jarred but is handling everything in stride and is, in fact, seeming to enjoy himself.

“Watch yourself, Cap, your possessiveness is showing.”

Steve side-eyes Tony and gives him a smile, “It’s the part I’m playing.”

“Mmm.” Tony hums, “I never took you for a good actor. C’mon, let down the curtain for a second and tell me how bored you are.”

“Are you?”

“You know, I don’t hate this functions as much as people think.” Whether he knows it or not, Tony’s leaning back into Steve’s hand now. “You can tell a lot about people when it comes to things like this.”

Steve’s on high-alert now, “Oh, yeah? Like what?”

“Well, you see that group over there?”

Tony points out to a small gathering in the far right corner. There are two women, both on the arms of men who look to be close to the three-drink limit of the bar and completely uninterested in everything around them. The women are leaning in close, talking practically into each other’s ears, smiling.

Tony continues, “Those are beards. Those women have been together for years, I think.”

“Why bother?” Steve asks, legitimately curious, “They look like they love on another.”

He shrugs, “They don’t want it out.”

Steve understands the feeling, “Why?”

“High society is a tricky place, Steve. It’s dangerous for people to be out, sometimes.”

“You’re fine.” Steve points out. “My role here is literally as your boyfriend.”

“I can afford not to care.” Tony says, shrugging.

Steve laughs, “You never care what people think.”

Tony turns then in his arm and levels Steve with a stare, “No, I _do_ care. I just only care about what people close to me think.”

“And what about me?”

Tony takes a slow drink and squints at Steve for a second. It’s a bit of a tense moment and before he can really stop himself, Steve’s hand is rubbing soothing circles into Tony’s back.

“Does it come as a surprise that I care about you?”

Steve’s feeling a little hot and pulls at his shirt collar, “No?”

“You don’t sound sure.”

“No.” Steve says, with finality. “I know you care about your team.”

Tony laughs but relaxes back into Steve’s hand, “I care about the team, sure, but I also care about you.”

That’s food for thought. Steve tries hard not to read into it.

“I care about you, too, Tony.” Steve manages.

Tony gives him a smile and drains his drink, sits it down on the bar, and then puts a hand on Steve’s chest. Steve can feel his heartrate kick-up and Tony’s hand is doing more to him than it strictly should. It doesn’t feel like Tony’s pushing him back. If anything, it feels like he’s trying to anchor himself to Steve.

“You know, I didn’t get all uppity when you were getting hit on.”

Steve’s surprised, “I’m being hit on?”

“That explains some things.” Tony murmurs. “Yes, practically the whole night. Where’s your head?”

“With you.” Steve says, shocking both himself and Tony.

Tony’s hand leaves Steve’s chest and he misses the warmth of it immediately. Steve looks down to find Tony giving him a look. It’s something that Steve’s seen more and more recently and can’t chalk it up to more than consideration.

“I’m going out on a limb here and if I’m way of course just give me the word and I’ll back off.” It doesn’t warrant a response so Steve just nods, waiting.

Tony looks at him again, shrewd, and Steve begins wondering if Natasha was wrong and Tony’s been able to see through him this whole time. He isn’t sure if he’s more relieved that he’d know or afraid of what that could mean for their friendship.

“If I were, to say, ask you out for dinner, what would you say?”

“As a date?”

Tony nods, albeit a little slowly, “As a date.”

Steve searches Tony’s eyes for a trace of anything other than open, honest questioning and finds none. He feels his heart clench a little and smiles.

“I’d say yes.”

Tony beams, “Great! Let’s blow this popsicle stand.”

“Tony, don’t you have to-“

He just shakes his head and grabs Steve’s hand, “I’ve done my time here. I’m feeling something greasy. What about you?”

Steve smiles and lets Tony lead him out of the ballroom, “I could go for a cheeseburger.”


End file.
